Weekend snow storm cripples region

By JEFFREY SIMMONS/Staff

Let the cleanup continue.
Southwest Virginia residents were still digging out, mopping up and looking back this week at a weekend snowstorm that tied up traffic, lit up 911 call centers, prompted the governor to declare a statewide emergency and forced many travelers to seek emergency shelter.
On Monday, the Virginia Department of Transportation said its workers were continuing to work around-the-clock to clear the commonwealth’s “lower-traffic” roads that were caked with more than a foot of snow on Friday and Saturday.
“Our crews continue our 24/7 efforts to make all roads passable following this historic storm,” said VDOT Commissioner David S. Ekern in a prepared release. “We understand it can be frustrating for those whose road has not yet been cleared, but our crews main focus over the weekend was ensuring that interstate and primary roads were cleared first because they carry the most traffic. Our crews began working on secondary roads on Sunday and will work through the day and night to address remaining roads.”
Road-clearing crews had their hands full this weekend as heavy snow began falling on Friday afternoon and continued into Saturday morning.
Traffic completely stopped on parts of interstates 77 and 81 in Wythe County, which made it even more difficult for trucks to plow away the precipitation.
Slick roadways kept police and wreckers busy as they tried to keep traffic moving.
“I just knew it was going to be a long, long night,” said Fort Chiswell BP Station manager Todd Hagee, who started out driving one of the station’s two wreckers on Friday evening before finishing out on the cash register when an employee couldn’t get to work.
Hagee said his tow truck drivers were still hauling vehicles on Monday, including those damaged in the storm and on their way to local body shops.
Between Friday and Sunday, the Virginia State Police reported 456 vehicle crashes in the Fourth Division, which includes Wythe and Bland counties. During that same time frame, Fourth Division dispatchers handled more than 2,000 calls for service.
“By far this weekend’s snowstorm demanded one of the greatest emergency responses for state police resources in years,” VSP Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty said in a release.
As officers worked to clear wrecks and help travelers, emergency coordinators in Wythe and Bland were setting up shelters for marooned motorists.
Bland County Administrator Willie Howlett said 34 people and three dogs made camp inside the courthouse hallways and at Bland High School after the county opened its emergency shelter at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday. Seven more people were housed at the School Board offices in Bastian after the East River Mountain Tunnel was closed early Saturday morning, he said.
“We were able to make them reasonably comfortable,” Howlett said, noting that the county gave the interstate motorists coffee, blankets and pillows.
In Wythe County, 355 stranded travelers took up refuge inside the George Wythe High School gym, according to County Emergency Manager Ikey Davidson. Most local lodging establishments were filled up by Friday evening.
Dianna Floyd and her husband were two guests who spent the night at GWHS “hard on the floor with one blanket,” WSLS 10 reported. Floyd, though, said the shelter was “better than the alternative, which would have been stranded on the highway all night long.”
The county provided the motorists with cots, blankets and – crates, many of which had to be purchased at Walmart. Davidson said that pets – including more than 50 dogs, cats and a rat – had to be kenneled away from the humans, which didn’t sit too well with some owners.
“Pet sheltering is something else,” he said.
The reunited owners and four-legged companions, however, were on their way and out of the school by 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Davidson said. On Monday, the blankets were at the cleaners, and on Tuesday the cots were disinfected.
“Everybody just done a super job,” Davidson said of the local emergency response.
While the local interstates were never officially closed during the storm, they looked like parking lots, one man said, as a mix of snow, wrecks and stranded vehicles resulted in stalled bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roadways.
“Everybody was just stuck,” said VSP Sgt. M.T. Conroy, who added that most local troopers worked well over 16 straight hours responding to weekend calls. “…We tried to maximize what resources we had.”
Travelers who couldn’t get a motel room or those who opted out of shelters hung out at gas stations and truck stops.
Hagee said that 20 vehicles stayed in the BP lot Friday and that the store posted record sales of food and other items.
By the time the snow finally eased up on Saturday morning, the National Weather Service had tallied 16 inches in Max Meadows and 12 inches in Wytheville. Bluefield picked up 13.3 inches, which was the highest December day total since 9 inches in 1967.
“It came on so quick,” Howlett said, which made the snowfall treacherous for travelers.
Even with all of the fender-benders and ditch diving, though, the storm only resulted in one local fatality in Carroll County, police said. The other weather-related death occurred on Saturday in Fauquier County.
“We were truly fortunate (that there were) no major accidents,” Howlett said.
Jeffrey Simmons can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).